Terrelle Pryor: I didn’t know how to throw a football

Posted by Curtis Crabtree on July 30, 2013, 12:58 AM EDT

AP

Oakland Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor knew he needed to improve as a quarterback this offseason. The Raiders traded for Matt Flynn from Seattle and selected Tyler Wilson during April’s NFL Draft. Pryor knew if he wanted to keep up, he had to get better.

After an offseason working with a throwing coach, Pryor realizes just how far he had to come.

According to Jerry McDonald of the Bay Area News Group, Pryor sought out Tom House over the offseason to help improve his throwing motion. House is a former major league pitcher that also works with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

House helped Pryor improve his footwork and throwing mechanics. With the changes in place, Pryor realizes just how poorly his throwing motion had been before.

“I never really knew how to throw a football before,” Pryor said. “It’s coming along. I’m getting way better. I probably missed four or five throws out of 80, 85 throws today. I might ice my arm as a precaution tonight, but it feels great.”

Head coach Dennis Allen remains intrigued by Pryor’s abilities though he admits Pryor still needs to improve in some of the finer aspects of quarterback play. However, with Pryor potentially becoming a more competent passer it could help keep him entrenched in the Raiders’ quarterback competition.

Pryor completed just 46.7-percent of his passes in three games last season. He completed 14 of 30 passes for 155 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He also carried the ball 10 times for 51 yards and a touchdown.

I’m amazed by how undercoached/prepared some of the young QB prospects are, and from big programs too. You’d think that of you were in that position with a potential to earn $100,000,000 you’d look to work with a QB guru in college. Yet guys like Pryor, Locker and Teebow to name a few come out of college with more bad habits than good.
Maybe it’s time for the NFL to start a farm system. Maybe then these young guys would know how to tackle and run routes when they get on the field. As it is now they just get used by universities to win games now. And very few of them actually graduate.

lol … never knew how to throw a football until now but played QB at college and signed as a QB with a NFL team 2 years ago.
Really and some Raider fans want him to start … the must be really Chiefs, Broncos and Charger fans.

Why was a QB who came up through a major college program and has had two full years on an NFL team not already equipped with the knowledge he needed to have proper footwork and mechanics in his throwing motion? This is not a criticism of Pryor, it’s an observation regarding “The Ohio State” and the Oakland Raiders coaching staffs. Pryor had to go outside the organization to get the feedback he needed to improve his arm strength and accuracy, and there has been a marked improvement, according to the first reports I’m hearing from camp.

OSU Alumni/Fan here. Good luck to you Terrelle, but you should have realized how bad your throwing motion was when you were watching game film in college. The shot-put-moon-ball pass you relied on so heavily was unique and your very own.

If you ever watched him play in college you could have easily determined he couldn’t throw. He regularly made incredible plays with his feet not with his arm. Never could understand why Raiders thought he was an NFL caliber QB.

Honestly, those stats are from one game. The only game he got really any reps in practice for the week and the only time he’s gotten to throw the ball more than once in a game in 2 years.

I don’t know that he’s the future Raider QB…but I don’t know that Matt Flynn is either and only one of them is under 25.

I think part of me kinda wishes we’d admit where we’re at and roll with Pryor and Wilson so we at least know what we have. I hate the idea of Flynn leading us to 6 wins and no knowledge of the long term QB situation.

He had the same issues when at OSU. At times he would hit a deep ball, but it was always a shot put. After 3 yrs at OSU and 2 yrs with the Raid, he will improve. But Tebow got a QB coach and does anyone think he would start at QB. Someone already said it, a lot of qb’s come out of major programs and r not ready.